It wouldn't hurt to give us bail‚ say coffin assault convicts

Two men who were found guilty of attempted murder on Thursday said it would not hurt anyone if they were granted bail pending a decision by the Supreme Court of Appeal.

Farm workers Theo Jackson and Willem Oosthuizen‚ who were found guilty of a string of charges after they filmed themselves forcing a young man into a coffin‚ have since petitioned the SCA.

In papers presented before the High Court sitting in Middelburg‚ the pair said: “In the event that [our] application for bail pending appeal is dismissed‚ and [our] appeal is ultimately granted‚ [we] as citizens of this country will have been deprived of ... freedom unjustifiably. It should be avoided at all costs.

“If unsuccessful it is submitted that no harm or prejudiced will be suffered by the state since [we] would then be incarcerated for the full period as imposed by this court or even an extended period.”

Wayne Gibbs for Willem Oosthuizen stressed that the court had relied too heavily on the videos of the assault and failed to acknowledge that Oosthuizen and Jackson were simply in character as they tried to scare their victim‚ Victor Mlotshwa.